It has been evident to me that God has definitely played a role in my life. For me as a Christian, who is on fire for God, it is impossible now to look back on my seventeen years and not see the miracles and love God has shown my family and I. I just wanted to let you guys know that I have been a Christian now for over a year and a half. Ever since I can remember, I have known of God’s word. Throughout this testimony you will here of my journey to find God. While I read this however, I want you all to keep this in mind. I am now seventeen and a half. I believe that I was mature enough and could have accepted God into my life when I was twelve. But I didn’t, I lost four years of my life on other things. I call it lost time because it was a time in my life where I put God on the back burner and put everything else in front. If there is anything you get from my testimony don’t waste God’s gift to you on something else. Also remember He is here with His door open wide. He is only asking that you let Him into your heart and accept that He is your Lord and Savior.

When I was born God blessed me with a disease called hydrocephalus. It is a disease that causes water to stay on the brain. When my doctors found out that I had this they simply did what they always did, operate and tell the parents that this kid is going to have no chance to function normally as a child or an adult. They didn’t give me much of an opportunity at a normal life, but my parents never accepted that. Just like God is my rock now, my mom was my mountain. She had me (who was ill) and two brothers by herself, while my dad was in the Navy. She was always positive with me. She never, to this day, told me I was different or that I couldn’t do something.

Surprisingly to my doctors, I’ve grown up and have had a basically normal life. I have always wrestled and played sports, but when I started to become my own person, I realized I needed to give God more of a chance. God was always somewhere in my life, the problem was He only seemed to be there when I was in need. For some reason, I forgot or didn’t bother to praise Him when I won my wrestling matches or my football games. Considering He is the only one who could have given me the right tools to win anything, I should have been thanking Him at every opportunity I got. I never looked at God as a friend or a Father. He was always just some giant thought too big to comprehend. He was like a huge presence I felt at church and nowhere else. It took an operation when I was sixteen years old to finally make me realize His gift to me, and why I didn’t see it in the first place. See, the only thing that was keeping me from God, was me! It was my foolishness, my desires; my whole life had been about me and no one else. I didn’t care about anyone but me. My main problem was I simply got my “whys” and my “thank you” mixed up. It is a common mistake I think I still make sometimes. I should have been thanking and praising God instead of asking, “Why, God? Why did this have to happen to me?”

When I was sixteen I had to be operated on, like I already said. I had to quit the wrestling team, which was disappointing not only to me but to the rest of the team as well. It wasn’t until after the operation that I realized the gift that God had given to me. I got the greatest gift that God can give you; I received the gift and opportunity of Life. I get to experience life to the fullest, not like some kids who are brain-dead and epileptic. I was one of the lucky ones. I finally began to realize why the doctors, when I was born, were so pessimistic about me being able to do anything in life.

I was on cloud nine for many months after the operation. Jenna, my older brother’s girlfriend, started to take me to Ground Zero on Friday nights. Some time during this time, I was saved. It wasn’t all at once, but over those next few months, I felt the Holy Spirit come into me.

Then the summer hit, and girls started to look pretty good to me. My God was testing me, but just like a foolish person, I failed the test. I stopped going to Ground Zero. Instead, I filled my Fridays with hanging out with my so-called “good friends.” I thought that I was having fun, throwing cool parties, and just hanging out and being a kid; what was so wrong about that? The one thing I could never figure out was why my parents were always mad at me. Wasn’t I supposed to go to parties and have fun? I thought that was what being a teenager was all about. Then my dad finally told me to shape up, or get out. So I started to think about what I was doing. I slowly stopped hanging out with those people, and started to come back to the heart of worship, Ground Zero.

Throughout all my hardships and downfalls, God has brought me closer to Him. I don’t want to say that if I wouldn’t have gone through it all, I wouldn’t be the Christian I am today; but looking back on my life to this day, I don’t regret one minute of anything. I’ve had the best life, and I can’t say that I have any complaints with that hand I have been given; but if it wasn’t for God working in some of the people at this church, I wouldn’t be as close to God as I am now.

I can remember one night in particular; I had just broken up with my girlfriend that night, and I wasn’t in the best of moods. For some reason, God told me to go to Ground Zero that night. So I did, and after GZ we all went to Val’s house to hang out. We were all standing near the fire watching a few people (who I won’t say) trying to burn themselves, and Val and I went over and started to talk. She told me about how she had given this year all to God, and how she decided not to date. I really took to heart some of the things she said to me. Without that conversation, I don’t believe it would have been as easy for me to let go of my girlfriend at the time. When I went home that night, I really thought about where my focus was. I asked myself one question: Was my focus on God, or was it on the things I wanted and didn’t have, like a girlfriend? I just wanted to take this time to thank her and all the other people who have helped me tremendously over the last year and a half. I love all of you guys more than words can describe; you’re all like brothers and sisters to me.

Let me leave you with this thought: I found God with the help of my parents and my brother, but I grew in God because of all the people I have come in contact with at GZ. This youth ministry is very blessed to have leaders like Mrs. O’Connor, Patti, Mike, Drew, Christine, and Tracey. Yes, sometimes I bend and fall flat on my face, but with the love of all you people, and God right behind me, I will never break to the ways of the Devil. I love life so much and I love all of you more than you could even imagine. I want all of you to have what God has given me. Just remember, God will never close your door—He is just waiting for you to walk through it.